The invention relates to a device and method for maintaining cooktops such as electric and gas ranges in a clean condition. More particularly, the invention relates to a device and method for collecting food and liquid sputterings or spillings and preventing such sputterings or spillings from contaminating the cooktops.
Currently, to clean cooktops such as electric and gas ranges or stoves, consumers have to manually wipe the food and liquid sputterings or spillings from the cooktop surface with cloth, sponge or paper. In addition, the food and liquid sputterings or spillings on the cooktop surface close to the heaters such as gas or electrical burners, if not removed timely or completely, may become baked on and the resulting baked-on food soils can only be removed with the assistance of special cleaning compounds and chemicals. As a result, cooktop cleaning has been ranked by consumers as the most labor-intensive and undesired work in kitchens along with food preparation and the dish washing.
The baked-on food soils cause black-vanish-like coatings, making the cooktop look non-hygienic and visually unappealing. The cleaning of the cooktop surface with cleaning compounds, which are sometimes abrasive, scratches and mars the cooktop surface, making the cooktop look old and visually unappealing. New advancements in cleaning compounds have been made in an effort to improve the cleaning of the cooktop surface but the results have not proven very satisfactory. Significant progresses have also been made on ranges with smooth, easy-to-clean glass-ceramic surfaces as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,275 to Hurko, U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,664 to Payne and Welle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,655 to Reiche et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,371 to Deo and Griffiths. Such smooth-surface cooktops, although relatively easier to be cleaned than the traditional gas and electric rages, still require labor-intensive cleaning and suffer from the difficult-to-remove baked-on food soil problem (U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,716 to Lewis and Hurko). In addition, such smooth glass-ceramic surface ranges are too expensive for average consumers.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a product to free consumers from the labor-intensive and unpleasant work of cleaning cooktops.
It is a further object of the invention to provide consumers a device that prevents the food and liquid spillings or sputterings from staining the cooktop surfaces and is washable by a dishwasher or a wash machine.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a product that makes it unnecessary to clean the cooktops, therefore freeing the cooktops from being scratched and marred.
It is a still further object of the invention to preserve the newness and fresh look of a cooktop for a long period of time and to elongate the life of the cooktop.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a device that is large enough to cover a cooktop surface but is easy to store, transport, handle and wash.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a device that covers a cooktop surface without making it inconvenient for a consumer to access the electric or gas burners of the cooktop.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a device to convert a traditional cooktop or range into a smooth-surface cooktop to facilitate the cleaning.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a device that covers a cooktop surface as well as covers or replace the drip pans in a traditional cooktop.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a cooktop hygiene device whose dimension can be changed by a user to fit his or her specific cooktop.
Still other objects will become apparent after reading the accompanying drawings and description. It should be understood that the invention could still be practiced without performing one or more of the objects set forth above.
Accordingly, the invention provides a cooktop hygiene device for collecting food and liquid sputterings or spillings and preventing such sputterings or spillings from contaminating the cooktops. The device comprises a plate-like structure removably mountable onto the cooktop for preventing food and liquid spillings or sputterings from contaminating cooktop surface. The plate-like structure, which can be either flexible or rigid, comprises an upper surface adapted to receive food and liquid spillings or sputterings from cookware or utensil during food preparation process, a lower surface adapted to interface with the surface of the cooktop, a plurality of openings located on the plate-like structure to receive the heaters on the cooktop and to allow a user can place a cookware or utensil on or above a heaters for heating the content in the cookware or utensil when the cooktop hygiene device is mounted to the cooktop. A fold facilitator may be formed on said plate like structure to facilitate the folding of the plate-like structure. The cooktop hygiene device further comprises an anti-motion mechanism to prevent the plate-like structure from movement on the cooktop surface. A plurality of drip pans secured to said plate-like structure may be positioned below the heaters of the cooktop for catching food and liquid spillings or sputterings from cookware or utensil during food preparation process. The openings for receiving the heaters may be formed directly on the cooktop if the plate-like structure comprises a plate material that can be melted softened or degraded when exposed to the high heat from the heaters on the cooktop. A plurality of covers may be connected to the plate-like structure for covering the openings or heaters by hinges. The hinge may comprise an extension to position the covers away from the heaters to avoid the covers from blocking the access to the heaters when the covers are opened.
In another embodiment of the invention, the cooktop hygiene device comprises a first plate-like structure having an upper surface for receiving food and liquid spillings or sputterings from cookware or utensil during food preparation process and a lower surface adapted to interface with the surface of the cooktop, a second plate-like structure comprising an upper surface for receiving the food and liquid spillings or sputterings from cookware or utensil during food preparation process and a lower surface adapted to interface with the surface of the cooktop, and a connector for connecting the first plate-like structure to said second plate-like structure in such as way to enable a user to reduce the dimension of said cooktop hygiene device to fit into a dishwasher for cleaning the cooktop hygiene device. In one configuration, the connector comprises a flexible or bendable material or a hinge to allow a user to fold said plate-like structure. In another configuration, the connector comprises a first connection member located on the first plate-like structure and a second connection member located on the second plate-like structure to interface with the first connection structure to prevent the food or liquid spillings or sputterings from passing through said plate-like structure. In still another configuration, the connector comprises a first chamber to receive at least part of the first plate-like member and a second chamber to receive at least part of the second plate-like structure. In still another configuration, the connector comprises an expandable member such as a pleated member or an expandable material to allow a user to change the dimension of the cooktop hygiene device to fit the cooktop.
In another embodiment of the invention, the cooktop hygiene device is removably mountable to the cooktop and comprises a plate-like structure having a first surface for receiving the food and liquid spillings or sputterings from cookware or utensil during food preparation process and a second surface adapted to face the surface of the cooktop and a plurality of cooking zones on said plate-like structure for engaging with the heaters on the cooktop and for conducting heat from the heaters to cookware or utensil on or above said cooking zones. The plate-like structure is generally impermeable to the food and liquid spillings or sputterings collected on said first surface thereby preventing the food and liquid spillings or sputterings from contaminating cooktop surface. In one configuration, the plate-like structure is adapted to be anisotropic in heat conductivity so that the heat from the heaters on the cooktop is substantially confined within the cooking zones. In another configuration, the plate-like structure comprises numerous solid pieces connected to each other by narrow connectors and separated from each other by air gaps. The narrow connectors are sufficiently narrow or thin to minimize the heat conduction between the solid pieces thereby preventing or limiting the heat conduction along the surface of the cooking zones and the plate-like structure. The air gaps are made sufficiently small or filled with heat insulation materials to prevent the food or liquid spillings or sputterings to be collected on the first surface of the plate-like structure from passing through. In still another configuration, the cooktop hygiene device further comprises heat restriction zones surrounding the cooking zones for preventing or limiting the heat flow from the cooking zones to the other part of said cooktop hygiene device.
The cooktop hygiene device may further comprise a raised wall around at least one of said cooking zones to convert at least one cooking zone into a cookware for cooking food. The cooktop hygiene device may further comprise air vent for providing air to the heaters if the heaters are gas heaters. The cooking zones may comprise raised or recessed structures for increasing the surface area thereby improving the heat transfer from the cooking zone to the surrounding. A coating such as a Teflon, elastomer, glass or ceramic coating may be applied to at least the surface of said cooking zones of said cooktop hygiene device.
Another aspect of the invention is a method for preventing the surface of the cooktop from being contaminated by food and liquid spillings or sputterings thereby reducing or even eliminating the need to clean the surface of the cooktop. The method comprising mounting a cooktop hygiene device comprising a plate-like structure generally impermeable to the food and liquid spillings or sputterings onto the cooktop, collecting the food and liquid spillings or sputterings from cookware or utensils during food preparation process onto the upper surface of the plate-like structure, and removing the cooktop hygiene device from the cooktop for the purpose of washing or disposing the cooktop hygiene device after the user determines that there is too much food and liquid spillings or sputterings collected on the upper surface of the plate-like structure. The method may further comprise a step of folding the plate-like structure to reduce the size of the cooktop hygiene device to fit into the dishwasher.